Marvel Re-Imagined: X-Men #10

X-Men #10

Rouge sat by the window waiting. The weather was very hot and the distance was fluttering from the heat. Her eyes were fixed on the faraway gate entrance. Storm walked past and noticed her out of the corner of her eye. She stopped and glanced at the optimistic expression of Rouge's face, she smiled and then walked on. It was calm after the storm in the Xavier Institute. Calm For now, that is. Rouge stood up as she saw Logan's glistening black motorbike speed along the entrance to the mansion. Logan stormed into the hall as Rouge appeared from around the corner.

"Loga--"

"Not right now Rouge, I have news for the Professor!" He said as he briskly headed for Charles's office. He charged into the room and Professor X, Cyclops, Hank McCoy and Storm were facing him as if they had expected him. "What did you find?" Scott bluntly asked.

Logan sighed. It had been at least half a year since Jean Grey had become controlled by the Phoenix Force and been instructed by the Hellfire Club to murder Charles Xavier. She did not succeed and had recovered but everyone knew she was different. She was constantly worn out and slightly irritable. Logan was worried she might have become addicted to the Phoenix and longed to have it's power again. He had set out to find out answers about the mysterious Phoenix Force, which was why he had returned. "I travelled the country for an answer. Finally I met a scientist in the south, who told me the Phoenix was spotted falling from outer space two years ago. He has been studying it and following it and he seems to think it has a goal and one goal only."

"And what would that be?" Storm asked.

"To take over our world. It selects a host to help it accomplish its purpose. At some point, it found Jean and thought her telepathic abilities would be useful. It gave Jean extravagant power but when defeated, it left her body to find it's new host. Unfortunately it is likely that the Force still may share a link with Jean, which is why we need to find it and get rid of it"!

"This is what I feared" Charles sighed as he rolled his wheelchair towards the window. "We must prepare for the worst. I can tell it is yet to come."

--

Kurt was constantly on the move. That way Charles wouldn't be able to find him. A long time ago Xavier found him and helped him become the incredible Nightcrawler. But a few months ago he murdered Emma Frost as an act of revenge for her killing his girlfriend, Kitty Pryde. Since then his blood had forever been fueled with anger and rage. He left the X-Men although Charles begged him not to, afraid of what he might do. Xavier had been trying to track him using telepathy which was why Kurt was on the run. Tonight he was sleeping in a gritty barn, but he couldn't get to sleep. The barn door opened and a female figure walked in. Kurt couldn't immediately see who it was from the darkness but he suddenly realized.

"Kitty!" He yelled as he appeared in front of her. He passionately kissed her in the lips. He closed his eyes and put his hand on her face. He held her tight and slowly he opened his eyes. Mystique was standing in front of him smiling.

"That was quite some kiss, Kurt" she said in a mischievous way. He punched her in the face as hard as he could.

"It was the only way to get your attention! You've been ignoring us for weeks"

"For the last time, I'm not joining your brotherhood of psychopaths!"

Mystique's tone changed to a more honest level. "We have more in common than you may think, Kurt" He got even angrier! "Did Charles ever tell you about me? I used to be a member of his X-Men. I was always ashamed of who I was. I used to hide myself. The humans took away someone I loved and I realized Xavier's dream wasn't real. Humans are swines who think they're better then all of us. But we are the ones who are evolved. They should be the ones hiding" Mystique slowly walked closer to him "Haven't you ever considered that?"

"You are a killer!"

"Something we have in common" She quietly smirked.

"I--" Kurt's rage was increasing

"You only killed Emma because she did something unforgivable. You killed someone because they deserved it. That is the thing we have in common. Emma, humans, whats the difference?" Mystique was successfully but slowly crawling into his mind. She knew exactly what to say next.

"The Hellfire Club killed your girlfriend. They're still out there and we can help you find them" She had his full attention "and finish them". She walked over to the barn door "Have a think about it. You know where to find us" And within seconds she was gone.

--

"Scott, we need to talk"

Jean walked into Scott's class of students and Scott, puzzled stood up and walked over to her. All of the children stared at them as they left the room. The minute the door closed, the classroom was flowing with whispering and talking.

"Jean, what's wrong? Can't this wait?"

A tear rolled down her face as she sat on the chair outside the classroom. Scott knelt down and held her hand as she tried to keep herself together. Jean tried to talk but she couldn't. Eventually she wiped her tears and looked him in the eye.

"There's is something I haven't told you. Any of you. Only Hank." Scott worried, brushed back her radiant scarlet hair.

"It's about the Phoenix. About a month before the Phoenix Force took over me I received some news from Hank after he had checked up on me. I had been diagnosed with a disease that would slowly but eventually kill me. He told me I had a year left and I wasn't going to tell you right away because I didn't want to upset you. Hank was positive he could cure me but we discovered that my death would arrive quicker then we had previously thought. When you saw the Phoenix take over me I had only a week to live. The Phoenix found me and gave me power. It cured me"

Scotts face had dropped. "Jean, your scaring me"

"Hank has been checking on me everyday and we just got the results. Scott, the Phoenix has left me and it's effects are wearing off" She wiped her tear and she softly laughed, but not because she was happy.

This is some passionate stuff. I really like the story (even though I haven't read any of the previous 9 "issues").

Just be careful, since you are dealing with pre-existing characters, it's easy to lose characterization I know that these are your own version of the X-Men, so be sure to always keep them in this character/attitude that you created for them and not gradually have them become the pre-existing X-Men or someone else. Notice how the Ultimate and regular Marvel Universes have the same characters but keep them different.

Also, you killed off my favorite X-Man... I will not forgive you for killing Kitty Pryde. Good story though! (Also, thank you for not keeping the story too long. A lot of the Fan-Fics here are tedious to read because of length.)

Great story! I really enjoy your characters. I would love to know more about what they think about the actions going on. One good saying in writing is "show, don't tell". It is easy to try to just tell us what is going on so you can get to the good stuff, but take some time to explore what your characters see and think. You've created some really intriguing stuff, I can't wait to read more!